COOKBOOKS GALORE

Although my mother was a great baker, she occasionally brought home one of McVitie's Tunis cakes near Christmas time. Do you remember these cakes? Well I was feeling all nostalgic and thought I'd try and make one. Not as elaborate as the original, as that looks too tricky for my icing skills! Mary Berry has a recipe, but I found another one, which was apparently sent by McVitie to a fan of the cake, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's in ounces. 3oz ground almonds 6oz butter 6oz caster sugar 3 medium eggs rind of 1 lemon 8oz plain flour 11/2 tspn baking powder 2 tbspn milk For the topping: 10oz plain chocolate Marzipan fruits [banana, orange, pear, apple] Preheat oven 160C/gas3                                        8" cake tin brushed with melted fat and lined with                                                                                        greaseproof paper at the bottom Beat the butter and sugar together till white and fluffy t

I love caramel and found this recipe in my magazine cuttings. It's not a difficult caramel to make, as I've had many disasters with it in the past!  You need:  Pack of shortcrust pastry, 2 eggs, 100g caster sugar, 60g butter, 100g walnuts chopped finely and 100g walnut halves For the Caramel: 20g butter, 100ml crème fraîche, 150g caster sugar Preheat oven 180C/gas4                 22cm tart tin For the tart: Cut the butter into pieces and melt for 1 min in a microwave. Leave to cool. Beat the eggs and caster sugar using an electric mixer or hand mixer till white and fluffy.  Add the chopped walnuts and melted butter and gently mix together. Roll out pastry to fit a tart tin which is at least 2.5cm high. Grease the tin then line with the pastry. Add the nut mixture gently. Bake for about 30 mins till golden. Caramel: Put the sugar in a pan and melt till brown. Heat the cream till boiling and pour over the sugar, mixing with a wooden spoon. Add the butter cut into

On Wednesday mornings I help with a Toddlers group. We're having a little Christmas party next week so have been trying out some biscuits. My grandson was here testing the results! This recipe came originally from Woman's Weekly, I think. It's in a pull-out about baking with children at Christmas. How many stars you make depends on the size of your star cutter! For the biscuits you need: 370g plain flour, 200g soft butter, 120g caster sugar, 3 egg yolks and a pinch of salt A star biscuit cutter For the decoration: red Smarties, 150g icing sugar, 1 egg white, 6 squares of chocolate to melt , red and white sugar sprinkles In a bowl or mixer beat the butter, sugar and egg yolks till it's creamy. Add the salt and flour and mix together. Bring together into a ball, cover in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 30 mins. Preheat oven 160C/gas3                                  Cover a baking tray with parchment paper Roll the dough out to about 5 mm thick, then cut

Since coming out of hospital, I seem to have been lucky enough to have had friends visiting. Now I'm feeling better, they haven't been eating 'shop bought' cake! I made a chocolate cake on Tuesday, but gave the leftovers to my friend to take home. Another friend came today and I decided to make her favourites - rock cakes. Don't think I've made these since schooldays. They were a great hit, and I'd forgotten how nice they are. I suppose the recipe is similar to Welsh cakes, which I often make. This recipe makes 12 and is from my Mum's notebook - I've changed the ounces into grams! 225g sr flour + 2 tspns baking powder, 100g soft margarine or butter, 50g granulated sugar, 1 egg, 150g mixed fruit and about 1 tbspn milk, brown sugar to sprinkle over. Preheat oven 200C/gas6              Grease 2 baking trays. Mis the flour and baking powder together then rub in the fat till it's like fine crumbs. Stir in the sugar and the fruit. Beat the eg

I decided I wanted to make something a bit different when some friends came for tea. My Mum was an excellent baker, and one of the things I really loved were her chocolate eclairs. I thought I'd have a try at choux pastry as it's years since I've made any. [Many moons ago I went to cookery classes with a friend, and we made choux buns.] Recently I was given a large jar of home-made lemon curd, so decided to try and use this as the filling instead of cream. I'd make some fondant icing for the tops. Do I do a GBBO and say - 'Make some choux pastry' or give the recipe? Decided to do the latter. This amount makes about 10 buns. 150ml water, 50g butter, 65g plain flour, 2 eggs lightly beaten Put the water and butter in a pan and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Take off the heat and add the flour. Put back on the heat and beat with a wooden spoon for 2-3 mins till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Cool slightly. Gradually beat in the eggs till th

One of my favourite fruits is a blueberry, and I love blueberry muffins. I thought I'd try to use one of my usual recipes, but instead of individual muffins, make a muffin cake. I've added a topping to give it more crunch. There used to be a prolific blueberry bush in the garden, but sadly this year it decided it had had enough! Preheat oven 190C/gas5                                    Grease a 900g loaf tin. In a bowl mix together 280g plain flour, 1/2 tpsn salt, 1/2 tspn bicarb and 1 tspn cinnamon. In another bowl beat together 2 eggs, 100g caster sugar and 85g light brown sugar,then mix in 125ml sunflower oil, 125ml sour cream and 1 tspn vanilla extract. Gently mix the dry ingredients into the wet one, but don't overmix Stir in 290g blueberries dusted in 1 tbspn flour to stop them sinking in the cake. Topping: 100g caster sugar, 50g plain flour, 50g butter cubed and 1/2 tspn cinnamon. Mix together to crumbs, then sprinkle over the top of the cake. Pou

325g caster sugar 4 pears, peeled, quartered, cored and sliced 175g self-raising flour 1 tspn baking powder 125g butter, melted 2 eggs 50ml milk 1 tspn vanilla extract You need a 20cm  springform round cake tin Preheat  oven to 180C/gas4, .  Put 150g sugar in a pan and add 3 tablespoons of water. Dissolve the sugar over a gentle heat, then turn up the heat and boil until the sugar turns a rich amber colour. Swirl the pan  but don't stir. Pour the caramel into the base of the prepared tin which you've lined with baking paper which comes up the sides a little. Let it cool, then arrange the pear slices in a circle pattern on top. Sift the flour and baking powder together. Add the rest of the sugar, and stir till mixed.. Add the melted butter, eggs, milk and vanilla, then mix at high speed for 1 minute to make a smooth batter. Pour over the pears and bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour.  Cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then turn onto a wire rack and serve still warm.

The mention of Rock Cakes in my book of British cooking, reminded me of the Raspberry Buns my Mum used to make. I loved these, and would hurry home from school when she'd mentioned she was making them. It was my Granny's recipe, and luckily Mum had written into her notebook. There are several recipe that were family favourites that Mum didn't include in her book, and I've tried to replicate them but with little success - 'double custard' being one. She made a great apple flan in a flan tin, with a sponge base filled with stewed apple, then piped a layer of this 'custard' round the edge and puts dabs on top. The 'custard' looked a bit curdled, but was delicious. I know she made some Birds custard, but what she added to it, I don't know! I've tried various ways of making it, but they're all wrong. Sorry, I digress. The buns are made in the same way as Rock Cakes - the rubbing in method. You need 225g sr flour with 1 tspn baking p

Another case of using up something at its ' Use By' date; this time some chopped dates. Wanted to make an easy cake, so made my Mum's Date cake with walnuts. It's a cake that keeps very well. Oven 180C/gas4                            Grease and base line a 20cm square cake tin. In a bowl put 210ml boiling water, 175g chopped dates and 3/4 level tspn bicarbonate of soda. Leave it for 5 mins. Cream together 175g soft brown sugar and 50g soft margarine, then beat in 1 beaten egg and the water and dates. Sieve 225g plain flour with 3/4 tspn baking powder and pinch salt, then fold into the date mixture. Add 40g of chopped walnuts and mix together. Spoon into the tin and bake for about 45-50 mins. Cool on a wire rack then remove the paper. This is just part of the cake, as I gave the rest to my lovely Polish neighbour! I sprinkled some sugar on the top  - not really sure why! It has a lovely flavour, almost caramel taste from the dates and a nice crunch from th

When 2 of my grandsons, aged 13 and 16 came to visit, to keep them off their x-boxes, I baked with them! We made these chocolate biscuits, and they were a great hit. Sadly there weren't any left to take home to their brother, so next time we'll have to make double the amount! Preheat oven 190C/gas5                Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper. you need: 125g butter, 125g caster sugar, 50g dark brown sugar, 1 beaten egg, 1/2 tspn vanilla extract, 100g plain flour, 25g cocoa powder, 75g oats, 1/2tspn baking powder, 1/2 tspn bicarb, 125g chopped hazelnuts and 25g demerara sugar Beat the butter and caster and dark brown sugars together till nice and smooth. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again. Mix together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarb. and add to the batter. Stir in the nuts. Take tspns of the mixture and roll into about 30 balls. Put the demerara sugar on a plate and roll the balls in it. Put the biscuits about 5cm apart on the baking trays. Pre

My daughter's favourite chocolate is white, so having recently made my son's favourite dessert, and as she was coming to stay for a week - a very rare occurrence - I decided to make her something using her favourite ingredient. I tried one of these crunchies at a coffee morning, and asked for the recipe. The only cooking involved is melting the chocolate, butter and crème fraîche. You need an 18cm square tin which you line with baking parchment. Break up 300g white chocolate and put in a bowl. Add 150g butter and 1 tbspn crème fraîche and melt together gently over a simmering pan of water. Crumble 100g Amaretti biscuits and chop up 100g candied fruit [I got mine in Waitrose]. When the mixture is melted, take the bowl and add the biscuits, fruit 25g dessicated coconut and 50g toasted flaked almonds. Mix it all together carefully. Spoon into the tin and leave to set in the fridge for 4 hours. Cut into 20 squares when set, using a knife dipped in hot water. It&#

I don't make many sweet tarts these days, but my son loves treacle tart and especially this version, which is a Norfolk Tart. As he was coming for the weekend, I decided to indulge him with his favourite pudd! Preheat oven 200C/gas6 Roll out 225g shortcrust pastry [bought or home made] and line a 7" or 17.5 cm round tin. Fill with baking beans and bake for 15 mins. Take out the beans and reduce the oven to 180C/gas4. Warm 100g syrup in a pan till runny, then take off the heat and stir in 25g unsalted butter and the grated zest of a lemon. Beat 1 egg and 3 tbspn double cream together gently then stir into the syrup mixture. Pour this into the pastry case and bake for 30 mins. Serve this warm with some cream or ice cream. This is very rich and moreish. It has a lovely creamy filling with a good lemony hint.

My love of cinnamon is well known, so when I got given some apples, I decided to try a recipe given to me ages ago by an American friend. It's nothing special to look at, but tastes great - that's of course, if you like cinnamon! It's not overwhelming, as there's none in the cake only in the topping. The recipe uses butter milk and oil. The amount of cinnamon sugar topping suggested for the cake was far too much, even for me, so I reduced it drastically, and there was still plenty. 225g light brown sugar, 75ml oil, 1 large egg, 225ml buttermilk, 1 tspn bicarbonate of soda, 1 tspn vanilla extract, 350g plain flour, 180g chopped apples [weight after peeled - I used 3 eating apples] Topping: 2 tbspn granulated sugar and 11/2 tspn cinnamon Preheat oven 160C/gas3                  Grease and base line a 20cm round cake tin. Put the brown sugar, oil, egg, buttermilk, bicarb, vanilla extract and flour in a big bowl and mis together well. Stir in the apples then spoon

I think I've mentioned before that I much prefer muffins to cupcakes - I find the icing on cupcakes just too much. We have a lovely shop in town which sells a great range of herbs and spices, particularly difficult to find ones. In France I did a day's cookery course in a local restaurant, and one of the ingredients we used was Tonka beans. If you want to find out more about them: http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/how-to-cook/how-to-cook-with-tonka-beans I'd never heard of them, so was interested to taste their flavour. It's hard to describe - a bit similar to vanilla, but with fruity and spicy elements! You only use a little, as they can be harmful in large quantities, so it's claimed. I bought 3 beans from my local shop. I'm explaining all this, because my lovely friend who owns the tea shop, gave me her recipe for chocolate muffins with Tonka bean. The recipe! 200g sr flour, 1 tspn baking powder, 150g white chocolate, 12 small squares of dark choco

I bought a punnet of local grown red plums, and wanted to use them in a cake rather than my usual pie or crumble. This is a nice easy recipe I was given by my French friend, and I often use it with different fruits. 250g red plums, 180g caster sugar, 130g soft butter, 100g sr flour, 4 eggs, icing sugar to sprinkle over top [opt] Preheat oven 200C/gas6                           Grease a 20cm cake tin Wash plums then cut in half and remove stones. Separate the eggs and add the yolks to the sugar. Beat till white and fluffy. Beat in the butter then fold in the flour. Whisk the egg whites till stiff then fold into the batter. Line the base of the tin with the plums, cut side down, and cover with the batter. After 20 mins, turn the oven down to 180C and bake for a further 20 mins. When cool, turn out upside down and dust the top with icing sugar. I like the cake mixture - it has a soft crumb and a light texture. It's a good contrast to the juicy plums. The cake make

Have been having another sort out in my baking cupboard to find what needed using up. I found some pine nuts and ground hazelnuts, both very near their 'use by' date, so decided to use them in a tart.  What would go well with them?  I always have some frozen raspberries ready to use, as they're one of my favourite fruits and thought these would work well with the nuts. For the filling I'd use creme fraîche instead of cream, not to make the tart too rich. My loose-bottomed tart tin is 23cm. Preheat oven 200C/gas6 You need 300g of shortcrust pastry, bought or home made [ I added a little sugar to it]. Roll out the pastry to fit the greased tin, and put in the fridge. Break 3 eggs into a bowl and add another yolk, 120g caster sugar and 60g ground hazelnuts. Whisk together , then add 100cl creme fraîche  and 1 tspn vanilla extract and mix together well. Put 200g of raspberries on top of the pastry and pour over the egg mixture. Sprinkle 80g of pine

I made these a while ago when there was rhubarb in my local market. As well as rhubarb and meringue, there's an almond cream in the tartlets. I cheated and bought a block of short crust pastry, but of course you can make it yourself. You need: 320g shortcrust pastry, 400g rhubarb and 80g caster sugar, 125g ground almonds, 80g butter, 125g caster sugar and 3eggs, 3 egg whites and 75g caster sugar. Preheat oven 180C           You need a 12 hole bun or tartlet tin. Peel and chop the rhubarb then cover it with the 80g caster sugar and leave for 1 hour. Roll out the pastry and use a cutter to cut out circles to fit your tin. Line these with baking beans and bake for 10 mins; take the beans out and bake for a further 5 mins. Take tin out of the oven and let the tartlet cases cool. Cream : beat the butter and 125g caster sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time, then the ground almonds - beat the mixture well. Turn the oven down to 120C. Meringue: beat the egg whites into

Sometimes you just want a simple piece of cake with your cuppa, and this loaf cake is just what you need. I had a medium sized tin of peaches reaching its 'Use by' date, so decided to add them to a basic loaf cake mixture. Preheat oven 180C/gas4                      Grease a 900g loaf tin Beat together 150g butter and 150g caster sugar. Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time. Fold in 150g flour with 1 tspn baking powder. Drain the syrup from the tin of peaches and cut them into dice. Add to the batter and stir in. Spoon into cake tin and bake for about 40 mins. This is my attempt and prettying up my photo of the cake! I kept back a couple of peach slices and added some flowers that were hanging round in the cupboard! The cake was nice and moist, with a soft crumb. Good contrast between the soft cake and the fruit. I'll certainly make it again, but with a different fruit, such as pears or pineapple or raspberries. Maybe add a bit of spice. A good standby recipe.

I like brownies, and my friend gave me this recipe which is a bit different from your usual one. It has cream cheese added to the batter. Preheat oven 180C/gas4               Grease and line a 18x24cm tin Put 125g butter, 125g dark chocolate and 200g light brown sugar in a pan; stir over medium heat till melted. Take pan off the heat and beat in 3 eggs. Add 50g sr flour, 50g cocoa and stir into the mixture. Pour into the tin. Beat 200g cream cheese [use full fat not low fat] with 50g icing sugar till smooth. Spoon into the batter then swirl with the tip of a knife to get a marbled effect. Bake the brownies for 35-40 mins. I liked these - you get the taste of the traditional brownie with the added texture of a cheesecake. They mix together well. Do I prefer it to the normal brownie - no, I don't think so, but it makes a change! I thought cooking them for so long would make them hard, but the crumb was moist.

Until recently, I thought that a Hummingbird Cake was the same thing as a Carrot Cake! On one of my afternoon tea visits [I'm trying to find all the little tea shops in Northants!] I saw this cake and decided to try it, liked it so much that I had to make one. I need to take a cake for a retirement party tomorrow, so decided this was the time to make it. It's based on a recipe from an old 'Living' cookbook. preheat oven 180C/gas4                  Grease a 3x23cm sandwich tins and line bases. In a bowl sift together 250g plain flour, 250g caster sugar, 1 tspn cinnamon and 1 tspn bicarb. To this add 3 beaten eggs, 200ml sunflower oil, 100g chopped pecan nuts [you need a few more to decorate the top], 3 ripe and mashed bananas and 85g tinned pineapple, chopped, and 4 tbspn of its juice from the tin. Beat this all together with a wooden spoon till its mixed well. Divide the batter between the 3 tins then bake for 25-30 mins till golden and firm. Leave cakes to cool i

A quick post. It's the usual story - what to do with 3 very ripe bananas in the fruit bowl. I also had a tin of Carnation Caramel coming to its 'use by' date, so decided to make a cake combining both of them. The Caramel is very sweet so there's only a small amount of sugar in the cake. I wanted an easy cake to cut, so made it in a loaf tin, Preheat oven 180C/gas4                     Grease a 900g/2 lb loaf tin Cream together 75g butter and 25g soft brown sugar till fluffy. Beat in 1 egg then add the caramel and mix well. Sift together 225g plain flour and 2 tspn baking powder then fold these into the mixture. Stir in 3 ripe and mashed bananas. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for an hour. I covered the top with foil for the last 15mins as it was getting very brown. Cool in tin for a few mins then turn onto a wire rack to cool. I really expected it to be very sweet, but it isn't. The crumb is soft and I liked the bits of banana. The caramel flavour

Coconut seems to be one of the 'in' things as you see coconut oil, creamed coconut  etc. My late husband hated coconut, so not wanting to eat a whole cake on my own, I rarely made one. This is a recipe given to me by my neighbour, so I promised to make it. I suppose it's called a Caribbean cake because of the coconut and pineapple jam in it? Preheat oven 180C/gas4           Grease 2x20cm sandwich tins and base line. Cake : In a large bowl put 175g butter, 175g caster sugar and 3 eggs. In another bowl, sift together 175g sr flour, 11/2 tspn baking powder and 1/2 tspn freshly grated nutmeg. Beat the butter, eggs and sugar then fold in the flour mixture plus 55g desiccated coconut and 2 tbpsn creamed coconut. Mix well. Divide the batter between the tins then bake for 25 mins till golden. Cool in tins for 5 mins then turn onto a wire rack. Filling:  Sift 280g icing sugar into a large bowl. Add 115g butter and 3 tbspn creamed coconut and beat together till smooth. Spr

I've had a very nice French lady staying with me . She came with a party from our twin town in France. I bought some wine and a nice bottle of cider, only to discover she didn't drink any alcohol! So I decided to use some of the cider in a cake. A nice easy cake to make; am not sure where I found the recipe as it was scribbled on a piece of paper. Preheat oven 180C/gas4                Grease a 20cm square cake tin. Cream 125g butter and 125g caster sugar together till nice and fluffy. Mix together 225g sr flour, 1 tspn bicarb and 1 tspn mixed spice. Fold half of the flour mixture into the batter then add 200ml cider and mix well. Stir in the rest of the flour and pour batter into the tin. Bake for about 35-40 mins. Cool the cake in the tin then sprinkle some caster sugar mixed with a little more mixed spice over the top. It's a nice moist cake with a soft texture. The cider flavour comes through well and the spice was a nice background f

The friend I've mentioned before on here, who owns a tea shop, came over at the weekend and brought me some strawberries grown locally. I wanted to make a tart with some of them, so found a French recipe in a folder for this one. The pastry is 'une pâte sablée', a rich sweetened shortcrust, but it's made in a processor or mixer. The filling is just a mixture of mascarpone, ricotta and icing sugar and the whole is topped with sliced strawberries. For the pastry - 1 egg, 200g flour, 125g butter, 75g caster sugar, 50g ground almonds, 1 tspn almond essence [opt], pinch salt. For the cream - 250g each of mascarpone and ricotta and 100g icing sugar Topping - punnet of strawberries, sliced Preheat oven 200c/gas6          You need a 23cm tart tin Put all the ingredients for the pastry in a blender and mix till blended. Bring together into a ball, cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least half an hour. Mix the cheeses and icing sugar together in a bow

I always seem to find something I need to use up in my store cupboard, and this time it was a tin of Carnation Caramel just coming to its 'use by' date. I love anything caramel, so decided to use it as a filling and topping for a cake. I know it's very sweet, but I took it to a coffee morning to share the sweetness! It uses oil instead of butter, so perhaps that makes it a bit healthier! For the cake: Preheat oven 180C/gas4               Grease and base line 2x18cm sandwich tins. Sieve together 175g sr flour, 21/2 tbspn cocoa powder and 1 tspn bicarb. Stir in 150g caster sugar. In a jug  - put 150ml vegetable oil [I used sunflower] and 150ml milk, 2 eggs and 1 tspn vanilla extract and beat together. Beat 2 tbspn of the caramel till smooth and add to the egg mixture. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix well. [It's a wet mixture] Pour into the tins and bake for 20-25mins till risen and firm. Cool the cakes in the tin, then turn onto a wire rack. For the i

I love carrot cake, and the other day I was out with a friend and spotted another vegetable cake, this time with parsnip in it, so I wanted to make one. I have a friend who has a lovely little tea room, and she gave me this recipe - it's very popular in her shop. For the cake you need - 175g butter or margarine, 200g demerara sugar, 100ml maple syrup, 3 eggs, 250g sr flour and 2 tspn baking powder, 2 tspn mixed spice, 250g parsnip, peeled and grated,1 medium eating apple, grated, zest and juice of an orange, icing sugar to dust the top. Preheat oven 180C                     Grease and line the bottoms of 2 x 20cm sandwich tins. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup gently in a pan. Allow to cool a bit then beat in the eggs. Stir in the flour and baking powder and the spice. Add the parsnip, apple and orange. Pour into the tins and bake for 25-30 mins. Cook in tins for 5 mins then take cakes out and cool on a wire rack. Sandwich the cakes together with a vanilla butter cream

I recently bought a set of 4 mini pudding basins, so had to try them out. I love the combination of chocolate and ginger so decided these flavours would be in my little sponge puddings. The only drawback to these puds is that they need to be steamed. Maybe you could do them in the microwave? Have made a large sponge pudding in my microwave, so perhaps these little ones would work too? Lightly grease 4 small pudding basins [ I got mine from Lakeland]. Put 100g soft margarine or butter, 100g sr flour, 100g caster sugar, 25g cocoa powder and 2 eggs in a bowl and beat together. Chop up 25g dark chocolate and 50g stem ginger and add to the batter. Spoon between the 4 basins  up to 3/4 full. Cover the top with circles of parchment paper then a pleated piece of foil. Steam for about 45 mins till puddings are springy and cooked. To serve with them  - chocolate custard. Beat 2 egg yolks with 1 tbspn caster sugar and 1 tbspn cornflour to make a nice smooth paste. Heat 300ml of milk

We all know we can't have enough apple recipes, and my lovely French friend G sent me this one to try. She loves finding new recipes, and often uses ingredients from other countries, including the UK, which she finds in her local Carrefour. I haven't made any kind of apple custard cake before, so it was just right to make for my family coming on Saturday. I've adapted the recipe as there wasn't a mention of what size tin to use; there rarely is in French recipes, simply says 'moule à manqué', a deep cake tin! G didn't say what apples she used, but I used Bramleys, as I didn't want the cake to be too sweet. She must have got the custard powder at the supermarket [but I always take of tin of it with me when I visit her, together with tea, marmalade and Marmite!] Preheat oven 180C/gas4               Grease a 20cm springform tin and line base with baking paper Make the custard for the cake first - mix together 2tbspn custard powder and 55g of caster sug

As I have already decided to make the chocolate cake in my last post for Easter,  I thought I'd make some small cakes for my grandchildren. They love muffins and they came to visit yesterday so we made them together. The first one we made was topped with buttercream and my favourite  Cadbury's mini eggs, but the second batch was a great favourite of my 2 older grandsons - Crunchy Peanut Butter muffins. I always use oil when making muffins - don't think it is really any healthier, but it sounds better than using butter. For the Easter Muffins: Preheat oven 200C/gas6           Grease a 12 hole muffin tin or use 12 paper cases. Sift together 225g plain flour, 55g cocoa powder, 1 tbspn baking powder and a pinch of salt. Stir in 115g soft brown sugar. Lightly beat 2 eggs in a jug then beat in 250g buttermilk and 6 tbspn sunflower oil. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and carefully stir in the wet ones. Mix till just combined - be careful not to over mix

I went to a 50th wedding anniversary party a few weeks ago, and this was the celebration cake. It was delicious, so I asked my friend who made it for the recipe. It's more like a solid mousse than a cake, but the chocolate flavour is so good. I have to say tho' that a slice is very rich. I made it last weekend as a try out for Easter, as I had friends coming for lunch. For the cake you need ; 330g dark chocolate, 120g cocoa, 350g melted butter, 10 egg yolks, 330g icing sugar and 330g  whipping cream For the ganache: 200g dark chocolate and 10cl single cream You need  a 23cm springform cake tin lined with baking parchment Beat the egg yolks together till fluffy. [Freeze the whites in batches for meringues?] Melt the chocolate and butter over a bain marie then add to the yolks and mix gently together. Add the cocoa powder and mix well. Whisk the cream till firm, and carefully fold into the egg mixture. For the icing - melt the chocolate and cream over a bain marie. Sp

I'm not a great fan of cupcakes as I find the topping too sweet, and I prefer muffins or our British fairy cakes. I was asked to make some for a special tea, so decided to make lemon ones, to use up 2 lemons which just happened to fall off my tree! The topping is a bit different as I used mascarpone.  You need a muffin tin with paper muffin or cupcake cases.  Preheat oven 180C/gas4 80g flour 1 tspn baking powder pinch bicarb. 40g ground almonds 75g caster sugar 3 eggs 100g melted butter zest of 1 lemon Icing: 250g mascarpone juice and zest of 1 lemon 50g icing sugar yellow colouring Beat eggs and caster sugar together till white and fluffy. Add the baking powder and bicarb to the flour and add to the mixture together with the ground almonds, butter and lemon zest. Mix together till a smooth batter. Put the paper cases in the muffin tin and fill them 3/4 full with the batter. Bake 15 mins till golden, then take out if tin and cool on a wire rack. Beat the sie

 I first had this tart in a little bistro-style restaurant in France. It's very different from the usual apple tart, using grated apples and including lemons in the filling. As I was in a hurry to get it made, I cheated and bought some shortcrust pastry from Waitrose, but of course you can make your own. The recipe was on a bag of sugar I bought ages ago in France! What I loved about the ready-made pastry in France, was that is came in a round shape ready for the tart tin. Wish ours did! You need:  a block of shortcrust pastry, 3 large eating apples, 150g caster sugar, 2 eggs, 80g melted butter and 2 lemons, washed well. Preheat oven 200C/gas6.                          Grease a fluted tart tin. Zest the 2 lemons and put it in a small bowl then add their juice. Grate the apples into a larger bowl then add the lemon zest and juice to stop the apples turning brown. Mix together. Add the 2 eggs, the sugar and the melted butter and mix everything together. Line the ti

Flapjacks are one of my family's favourite things to eat and a Bakewell tart is another, so a combination of both is a marriage made in heaven! I've been having a good sort out of my baking files lately - you know the ones, with cut out bits from newspapers, magazines, recipe cards you've picked up in supermarkets, handwritten recipes on scrappy bits of paper ...... and I came across a recipe for these flapjacks. I've changed it a bit to suit our tastes. Preheat oven 180C/gas4                 Grease a medium baking tin Put 150g oats, 75g ground almonds, 45g plain flour and 45g caster sugar in a bowl and mix together. Add 150g melted butter, 3 tbspn golden syrup and 3 tbspn milk and mix well. Put half of the mixture into your tin and press it down; spoon over 2 tbspn raspberry jam and sprinkle over 15g flaked almonds. put the rest of the mixture on top and smooth over. Sprinkle a few more flaked almonds over the top. Bake for 10-15 mins till goldenish. Cool in t